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AVweb blogger Paul Bertorelli recapped the highlights of the AOPA summit held last week in Tampa, Fla. The rollout of the Cessna 162 Skycatcher turned heads at the Summit, and Bertorelli predicts the Skycatcher will be a top seller in the LSA market. Bertorelli also praised the Peter O. Knight Airport in Tampa as one of the best sites for static area displays.

An Italian manufacturer of light sport aircraft, Italigo Aviation LSA, recently opened a new facility at Kissimmee Gateway Airport in Florida, where it plans to begin building the FX1 Fredo next year. The company says the U.S. is its largest potential market for the aircraft.

According to a report by light sport aircraft advocate Dan Johnson, the light sport aircraft sector showed positive, though modest, numbers in 2012. Cessna's Skycatcher led the fleet with 94 new registrations followed by CubCrafters with 48 new registrations.

The unimpressive sales outlook for light sport aviation was reflected in the atmosphere at the U.S. Sport Aviation Expo, blogger Paul Bertorelli writes. One theory as to why LSA is struggling has to do with the market being over-saturated with manufacturers. According to Bertorelli, "there are something like 90 manufacturers with more than 100 models in a current world market that absorbed about 260 airplanes last year. If you're a rabid believer in free markets and unlimited competition and you think that there can never be too much, perhaps the static universe of LSA might suggest a rethinking of that theory."

Cessna is proceeding with production of its Skycatcher LSA after receiving more than 1,000 orders for the airplane. Cessna displayed the Skycatcher this week at the AOPA Aviation Summit in Tampa, Fla. According to Cessna's Kirby Ortega, the Kansas-based manufacturer plans to build 300 to 400 planes per year.